Symbol

I'm baffled. You meet this kind of movie only very rarely.

It defies attempts to categorize it. It destroys your preconceptions of what a "special" movie might be. There's slapstick and there's nonsense and there's meta babbling, except its wordless meta babbling. Also there's angel penises, like a lot of them. Seriously, this movie weirded me out.

In itself the story moves in a pretty straight line. Well, two straight lines. There's the wrestler plot, and there's the white room plot. The wrestler plot is utterly forgettable and, frankly, quite boring. It just functions as the opposite of the white room. One of many incarnations of what opposite could mean in this case.

The white room plot centers on a man trying to get out of the white room. Simple right? Pressing the angels penises (You heard me!) reveals certain, seemingly random, objects. In combination they might lead to an escape. Here the movie really shines. Through sometimes silly, sometimes clever trial and error means the protagonist starts coming up with an escape plan. I found myself thinking along with him (and normally being way ahead of him and getting frustrated with him... JUST USE THE POT!!!).

In the end the two story lines meet to give the audience a bigger picture. The ending still came as a surprise, although, in hindsight, it makes complete sense. It leaves only one question, but I came up with an answer immediately. I think thats how its supposed to be. Not everyones answer will be the same, but there will be one. Perfect example of closure without closure.

Watch this if you like to see special things, don't finish watching it if you're bored after the first white room scene. It probably won't be the movie for you.

9/10

I subtracted one star because the effects in the final scene were so crappy that they really distracted me from fully enjoying the ending but that's probably just me and other people working in that field themselves. Nothing to cry over really.

There's no mention on who the director/ lead actor Hitoshi Matsumoto is in the other reviews, which may help prospective viewers to decide if they want to see this unique film or not. Matsumoto is one half of the arguably most famous Japanese comedy duo 'Downtown'. Their style is called 'manzai', that is one guy says a lot of stupid stuff and the other butts in all the time to correct him; you may have seen this in the background of some films by Kitano, who started his career in 'manzai' as well.

If you know that type of comedy, the otherwise completely non-sequitur style of 'Symbol' won't necessarily come as such a surprise, because the whole idea of 'manzai' is to baffle the audience by pushing nonsense as far as it can go. Since Matsumoto's part is the 'boke' AKA nitwit, it's pretty much in his line to come up with the most far-fetched, senseless and weirdest story angles imaginable - after all he's been doing this on TV since 1983! The ridiculous wig he's wearing in the film is actually part of his TV antics - I remember him wobbling around with it whenever he got an idea, pretty much like what he's doing here.

What surprised me though is that 'Symbol' has excellent production values, unlike his debut 'Big Man Japan' which suffered from very bad CGI (which may have been on purpose though). Here the visuals look so well done that I can't help but wonder about the budget. Another surprise unmentioned in the other reviews: there's an appearance by 'Kiss'! Other than that, I can only confirm what everyone else said: you may love it, you may hate it, that depends on how much you can forget about any expectations you have.

I was fortunate enough to catch this movie at a screening during the Copenhagen film-festival last month, and when I went to see it, I didn't really know what to expect, so imagine my surprise and joy, when I found out that the plot went something like this...

First, we begin with a scene in Mexico, where we see a small family eating breakfast.. nothing extraordinary in that, except that the father is wearing a full-face wrestling-mask, like the famous Mexican wrestler Santos (or for the mainstream-audience, like The Gimp from "Pulp Fiction"), and is suddenly picked up by a foul-mouthed woman dressed as a nun, who drives him to town, where the night's big fight is going to take place.

Then, cut to a Japanese man, waking up in a completely empty white room, not knowing how or why he got there, he screams to get some help and attention. But all he sees is something that looks like a button in the wall.. when he presses it, hundreds of naked angel-boys appear before him, only to disappear back into the wall..except their penises! He then proceeds to press the penises, and finds out that something mysterious happens every time he does so! Holes open in the walls, and random things are thrown into the room, be it furniture, gadgets, food, or even living things! All that happens inside the room is apparently a personal voyage for the man, but it also effects other people's lives at the same time, most notably the Mexican wrestler and his family, which we discover near the end of the film. But it really is something that should be watched to be completely understood - and even then, it's not even certain that you'll be able to understand what happened - or why.

Highly recommended film. Very unique and entertaining throughout, even though the last fifteen minutes get really bizarre and too artsy for my taste. This movie is not to be missed. You will probably never see anything quite as weird and funny like this. 8/10

Many viewers may find this film or the main character quite idiotic or stupid but those who enjoy physical comedy should get a lot out of it.

A very creative and imaginative concept with man in bright spotted pyjamas trapped in a white walled room. On the walls are hundreds of 'buttons'.

With no visible way out of the room, the man becomes desperate and curious and one by one begins to press the buttons, with each button delivering odd 'products' and 'ojects' that are seemingly no help to him getting out of the room.

At the same time, a parallel storyline runs of the real world, with an underdog Mexican wrestler getting ready for a bout.

The two story lines come together with mixed results.

I found the film to be very entertaining although was a little disappointed with the third act.

Funny and offering something different than the usual Apatow 'hits' churned out by Hollywood.

Anyone who likes early Jim Carrey style physical slapstick might enjoy this.

Symbol is a wonderful tale of the harsh reality of life along a man's quest to reach absolution and his trail through life.

The director uses explicit visual aids to guide us through the materialistic needs of an everyday Japanese man and the things he must do to acquire them by forfeiting his freedom. Following the path of

maturity, he, whose name we will never learn reaches a point were mere material pleasure is not enough and needs to learn what it is like to be free. During this hard and long journey he will find himself doubting and forsaking everything. Only then will he be able to

slide open the door to real freedom and find himself as a new god. But still unable to shed his true human skin, he will influence the lives of people whose existence he is not even aware of.

Symbol is able to reach down and touch you in places that only religion was able to before. It is breathtaking up to the very last second.